When The Thames Froze
by katieupatree
Summary: "And then she's gone, a whisper of a memory as their fingertips slip apart and he watches her skate away, eyes shining bright with love and laughter as she silently promises to be back soon, a glimmer of golden curls beneath the moonlight." Just a little Castle and Beckett ficlet for Christmas time, takes place at the Rockefeller skating rink. I hope you enjoy!


Hello everyone!

I didn't really mean to write this story (it started off as an update for an entirely different story) but my favourite Christmas song was playing on iTunes at the time and this was the end result.  
It is based off of the Smith & Burrows song 'When The Thames Froze', but is still set in New York. I did consider moving Castle and Beckett to our beautiful London for the story, but it seemed like far too much explaining for a little ficlet.

I hope you enjoy..

**Disclaimer: Everything and everyone belongs to their rightful owners, I am simply borrowing them for a little while.**

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**And even though I hate the cold  
A constant reminder that I'm getting old  
Another year draws to its close, entire London slows  
When I dream tonight, I'll dream of you  
When the Thames froze**

**- **_**Smith & Burrows**_

Castle long ago lost track of the hours that they have spent turning circles of the Rockefeller Center ice rink, fingers numb with cold and feet stung with the ache of borrowed skates, every fibre of his being calling out at him to make his way through the crowds and back to the cinnamon scented warmth of their apartment. But he can't. Not yet. Not when it is so beautifully apparent that there isn't a single place in this entire world that Kate Beckett would rather be spending this late December night that threatens snow a little more with each second that passes.  
And in that moment, despite the freezing cold that he has come to hate, Castle knows that he would spend a thousand years in this spot just as long as she was with him; because here she is, Kate Beckett, beauty and grace incarnate as she holds tight to his wind-chapped hands, carefree and smiling bright beneath the woollen billows of her favourite winter scarf, giggling mischievously as she turns them fast towards the centre of the ice.

They're skating quicker than ever before, almost too quickly for Castle to stay balanced, every practised swipe of her blades weaving them dangerously close to the tourists who wobble nervously from the safety of the sides. With every inch of ice that they travel across Castle feels his heart pound a little more, thrumming with life as his blood courses through his veins, and it's too much; the speed so fast it feels like flying, the bitter cold of the world and the searing heat of their entwined hands, the complete and utter trust that he has in Kate to keep him safe, it's too much because it's too perfect.  
And then she's gone, a whisper of a memory as their fingertips slip apart and he watches her skate away, eyes shining bright with love and laughter as she silently promises to be back soon, a glimmer of golden curls beneath the moonlight.

He's watching her as she skates in lazy ovals that loop back to his place in the very middle of the ice rink, committing to memory every exquisite movement, the everlasting line of toned limbs as they sweep effortlessly through the night and the smile that is for Castle alone. He sees flashes of the little girl whom he never had the honour of meeting; long ago imaginings of Katie Beckett, young and free and filled with innocence, sees her twirling across the ice with her Mum and Dad, rosy cheeked and filled with the sheer, unguarded excitement of the holidays. And he sees her now, the woman he so desperately loves, and he wants to stop time, to live in this exact moment for the rest of their lives; because she is perfect, happy, completely unaffected by the horrors of this world, and he wishes that her life could always be this way.

As Kate makes her last, looping circle of the ice, Castle wants more than anything to skate over to meet her, but something deep down is telling him not to, as if by moving he might somehow disrupt the plans of the stars that have aligned for them that night. So, instead he takes a deep breath of air so cold that it burns his lungs and soaks in every last detail of his beautiful Kate, feeling more than a little dumbstruck and utterly overwhelmed in the most wonderful of ways.

She meets him with a gentle bump of her body, hands against his chest to hold herself steady as she catches her breath, tipsy with the joys of the night. And then her lips are searching for his own, stood in what feels like the very centre of the world, kissing him with the messy lust of Christmas dreams, with passion and love and hope.  
When she pulls away it is only to look deep into his ocean eyes, to whisper the words that have passed between them a hundred times before, but that will always hold within them the ability to steal his heart entirely, "I love you."

"I love you, too." he replies, knowing then that he will dream of this, the night New York City froze, for the rest of his life.

**End.**

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Thank you ever so much for reading.  
Please let me know what you thought if you have a second to do so?

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!  
Happy holidays,  
Katie x


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